Abstract: Philip Stedman Sparkman studied and wrote out the vocabulary of the Luiseño people of Southern California, and he corresponded
with Charles F. Lummis and Frederick Webb Hodge. This collection includes family, financial, and legal papers of John Sparkman,
Philip Stedman, Philip Stedman Sparkman, John Stedman Sparkman, Alice Ann Sparkman Powell, and Rodney W. Powell, spanning
mostly from 1808-1919. Photographs in this collection range from 1872-1962.

creator:
Powell, Alice Ann Sparkman

creator:
Powell, Rodney W.

creator:
Sparkman Family

creator:
Sparkman, John Stedman

creator:
Sparkman, John

creator:
Sparkman, Philip Stedman, 1865-1907

creator:
Stedman, Philip

Scope and contents

This collection includes family, financial, and legal papers of John Sparkman, Philip Stedman, Philip Stedman Sparkman, John
Stedman Sparkman, Alice Ann Sparkman Powell, and Rodney W. Powell, spanning mostly from 1808-1919. Papers include correspondence,
family papers, financial records, a ledger, and photographs. Loose photographs and a photo album include photos from 1872-1962.
The photo album features mostly Powell family members, with some of Alice Sparkman Powell’s family photos as well. The photo
album also includes photographs from R. W. Powell’s military service in Cairo, featuring encampments, landscapes, and Bedouins.
The ledger is mostly filled with journal entries from 1880-1901 written by Philip Stedman Sparkman.

Copyright has not been assigned to the Autry National Center. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts
must be submitted in writing to the Autry Archivist. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Autry National Center
as the custodian of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must
also be obtained by the reader.

Access

Collection is open for research. Appointments to view materials are required. To make an appointment please visit http://theautry.org/research/research-rules-and-application
or contact library staff at rroom@theautry.org.

Biographical note

Philip Steadman Sparkman, 1865-1907

Sparkman was the seventh child in a farming family, born in Herefordshire, England in 1865. He sailed to the United States
in 1875 on the immigrant ship SS Idaho. He slowly made his way west, working odd jobs, and opening a series of short-lived
stores starting in 1880 in Albuquerque, New Mexico and then in towns along the Santa Fe Trail. He eventually settled in the
small town of Rincon, near Valley Center in San Diego County, California where he ran a successful store and prospered as
a local businessman. Sparkman had taught himself Spanish while in New Mexico, and upon settling in Rincon, became interested
in the local Luiseño Indian culture and language. Sparkman spent years recording all aspects of Luiseño culture, including
folklore, religion, and material culture, but his focus was on their language. He published a preliminary sketch of his study
of the language in American Anthropologist in 1905. Sparkman was killed at his home on 1907 May 19 at the age of 51. The man
suspected of his murder, Francisco Calac, was declared unfit for trial, and spent the next 20 years at the state asylum in
San Bernardino, California. Discovered among his papers after his death were a completed, bound and typed manuscript grammar
and dictionary of the Luiseño language and a written account of Luiseño culture. Both works were acquired, along with other
Sparkman papers, by the University of California and published post-mortem. Sparkman left no heir behind, so his effects were
left to his sister Alice Ann Sparkman Powell, wife of Rodney W. Powell, who served in the British army in Cairo during World
War I.